30-year mortgage rates fall to 6-week low of 6.4%

Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for the second straight week, declining to the lowest level in more than a month. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 6.40 percent this week, on average, down from 6.47 percent last week. The new average was the lowest since the week of July 17, when 30-year mortgages stood at 6.26 percent. Fifteen-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, fell to 5.93 percent, down from 6 percent. Five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.03 percent this week, up slightly from 5.99 percent last week. One-year, adjustable-rate mortgages also edged up, to 5.33 percent from 5.29 percent. (AP)

Comcast Corp., the largest cable operator in the United States, said Internet subscribers whose use of the Internet exceeds 250 gigabytes of data a month may get a warning and could lose their service. Customers who breach the threshold - enough to send 50 million e-mails or 125 standard-definition movies - may be asked to reduce their use, the company said in a Web posting. Those whose "excessive use" continues may be cut off for a year, Comcast said. (Bloomberg)

The Federal Reserve said lending to commercial banks rose to the fourth record in six weeks, while loans to securities firms showed a zero balance for a ninth straight week. Loans to commercial banks through the Fed's traditional discount window increased $956 million to an average $18.5 billion a day in the week ended Wednesday, the Fed reported. That surpassed the previous high of $17.7 billion in the week ended Aug. 13. Lending to Wall Street bond dealers averaged zero, the Fed said. As of Wednesday, commercial banks had $18.9 billion of discount-window loans outstanding, the Fed reported. (Bloomberg)

Borrowers who take out government- insured mortgages will have to pay higher fees under new rules that were announced this week. Effective Oct. 1, the Federal Housing Administration will raise its mortgage insurance fee to 1.75 percent for new mortgages and many refinanced loans. That's up from 1.5 percent. For a borrower with a $200,000 loan, that means a fee of $3,500, up from $3,000. The government agency, which backs loans to borrowers with poor credit or low down payments, has seen its share of the mortgage market grow dramatically over the past year, since the collapse of subprime lending to borrowers with poor credit. Loans backed by the agency are on track to make up 30 percent of all new loans this year, up from a mere 3 percent last year, according to the trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance. (AP)

Apple Inc. is readying a software update for its iPhone, fixing a security flaw that gives unauthorized access to contacts and e-mails. An Apple spokeswoman declined to say when the update would be available. Customers can avoid the problem by changing their settings, she said. Apple put out a software update last week to improve network connections after some iPhone users complained about dropped calls and sound quality. (Bloomberg)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. said a security breach involving the loss of personal information is much larger than previously reported, affecting about 12.5 million people, up from 4.5 million. The case is the largest new reported US data breach in 2008, as measured by the number of exposed records, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, who disclosed a probe of the breach in May, in a statement said she is still pursuing a possible "substantial" fine, restitution, and other remedies against Bank of New York Mellon. A spokesman for the New York-based company said the number of affected individuals had risen by 8 million from the 4.5 million reported earlier. Rell estimated the total number of customers that could be affected at 10 million.

An official with Air Canada's regional carrier, Jazz, says the airline is removing life vests from all of its planes to save weight and fuel. A spokeswoman said Canadian regulations allow airlines to use floatation devices instead of life vests, provided the planes remain within 50 miles of shore. Safety cards in the seat pockets of Jazz aircraft now direct passengers to use the seat cushions as flotation devices. Stuart says all of Jazz's 880 daily flights to 85 destinations operate within 50 miles from shore. (AP)